Deutsche Bank to refrain from selling DWS shares for six months after IPO

The head quarters of Germany's largest business bank, Deutsche Bank, is photographed in Frankfurt
Thomson Reuters
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank has agreed not to sell any additional shares in asset management unit DWS for six months after the planned initial public offering (IPO) on March 23, DWS said in the prospectus for the deal published on Tuesday.

Deutsche Bank set the price range for the planned IPO of DWS at 30 to 36 euros a share on Sunday, valuing the division at up to 7.2 billion euros ($8.9 billion).

That would raise proceeds of between 1.5 billion and 1.8 billion euros, less than the maximum the bank had initially hoped for as it repairs its balance sheet and restructures the flagship German bank.

Deutsche said in March 2017 it would list a stake in DWS as part of a broader overhaul to help it move on from a string of lawsuits and trading scandals. The IPO has been brought forward as the bank hopes to lock in stock market valuations ahead of any further market correction.

DWS will be overseen by a supervisory board of twelve with Deutsche's Chief Administrative Officer Karl von Rohr as chairman, as well as the lender's Chief Regulatory Officer Sylvie Matherat and Germany retail banking head Asoka Woehrmann.

Separately, DWS has enlisted Evonik finance head Ute Wolf and former BASF manager Margret Suckale to become independent members of the supervisory, alongside Aldo Cardoso, a non-voting member of Axa Investment Managers' board. ‍Nippon Life Insurance Company, which acquired a 5 percent stake in DWS which it has vowed to keep for at least one year, will be represented by Hiroshi Ozeki, DWS said in the prospectus.

March 23 is expected to be the new stock's first trading day on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.